Outdoor furniture can be expensive, and no one really likes sitting on the grass, or in a folding chair. So what can a creative person do? Repurpose vintage chairs or other materials to create unique pieces for their garden. A bit of paint and some quick alterations can transform an old, worn dining chair found in the attic or at a flea market into a beautiful, creative planter.
We’ve dug through the internet to find some of the best DIY projects to repurpose old chairs into beautiful, vibrant planters. Some of these projects can even still be used as a comfortable chair, while others are strictly for display, but each piece is beautiful and unique, with styles for every taste.
Keep an eye out for creative ways to take a chair–or parts of one–and create new, exciting displays for your garden, large or small, and be sure to notice the way a simple change in the style of the chair can give a display an entirely different effect.
These projects range in difficulty from very simple to ones requiring a bit more time and a few more power tools. So if one of these offerings tickles your fancy, be sure to click the source link below to find instructions on how to create one of your very own!
1. Painted Sunshine Chair with Terra Cotta Planter
An old chair with a wooden sunshine attached where the back used to be. The seat has a hole added to support a large terra cotta planter. An easy way to switch out your display without tearing apart the hard work on the chair!
2. Chalkboard and Moss Distressed Antique Armchair
A bit of chalkboard paint and a small planting bed with ground cover, like moss, transforms this distressed, ancient armchair into a whimsical garden piece. A quick change of the sign, and you can change the effect of the chair as well.
Source: Blogspot / Bella’s Rose Cottage
3. Ice Cream Chair Planter
A wrought iron ice cream parlor chair’s seat is the perfect size to hold a plastic or terra cotta planter. The filigree, with a fresh coat of paint, adds an air of sophistication to a plain plastic planter and keeps it off the ground as well.
Source: Cut Out And Keep
4. Bold Armchair with Ground Cover Seat and Back
An old armchair and side table painted in light purple and a bold neon green. The seat and back padding has been removed and replaced with a shallow planting bed perfect for thick ground cover. The chair can still be used as seating if so desired, but is also a unique conversation piece as well.
Source: DebraPrinzing
5. Cinder Block Armchair Planter
This seat might be a bit hard for long term sitting, but it’s a beautiful way to arrange a cinderblock garden. You can orient the holes to create a unique display, with plants growing up, or vines trailing down.
Source: Funky Junk Interiors
6. Chair Planter with a Trellis
This piece is somewhat less recognizable as a chair, but the seat is a great deep planter, and the trellis back can be trained with vines for a lush, living chair.
Source: Ana White
7. Simple Painted Dining Chair
A fresh coat of bright paint and a hole cut in the seat turns this old chair into a repository for a former hanging basket. The natural fiber and iron planter is a more attractive option than plastic or terra cotta, and provides more drainage.
Source: Jasey’s Crazy Daisy
8. Seat Planter with Mason Jars
A neat take on a chair planter that not only has a cut out in the seat for a terra cotta planter, but also utilizes the spindles on the back of the chair to hang mason jars full of succulents.
Source: Killer B Designs
9. Garden Display in Vienna
This idea is a little harder to copy but is undeniably cool. A set of chairs, seats removed, have large flowering plants beneath them, and the backs are covered with lush ground cover.
Source: Martha’s Vienna
10. All Flower Chair Display
A project with vines trailed around the wrought-iron frame of the chair, leaving little but the outline visible. Fresh flowers are wound around the chair as well, for an elegant and unique display. For a longer-lasting variety, try using silk flowers.
11. Succulent Chair
An old armchair reupholstered and painted in a pretty periwinkle has a seat replaced entirely with a display of hardy succulents. A low-maintenance display for any garden.
Source: Blogspot / Rotary Gardens
12. Re-Purposed Wicker Bench
While not a chair, this project repurposes an old, rickety wicker bench into a display overflowing with large-leafed plants. A coat of paint and removing some of the more damaged portions of wicker gives this piece new life.
Source: Shawna Coronado
13. Antique Chair Planter
Just switching up the style of chair you use can give your chair planter an entirely different effect. Try using a more ornate, traditional style chair with pastel flowers for a more sophisticated, elegant, yet country style.
14. Child’s Rocking Chair
A cute way to repurpose a child’s rocking chair after they’ve outgrown it is to remove the seat and place a planter inside. Depending on the height of the chair, your planter may sit snugly on the ground, with the chair acting as a fence.
